Writing in Biology

The idea of intelligence is something that has directed our lives ever since a young age. Children are constantly being tested or judged for their intelligence throughout schooling. The idea of intelligence can be seen through personality, verbal skills, and problem solving skills. Some people who are very intelligent struggle socially, and some people use their intelligence in aspects of social competence. What is intelligence? Intelligence is seen as an individual’s ability to understand complex ideas, learn from experience and adapt to circumstances. The G factors, or general factor, is a theory that dictates that a there is a primary intelligence factor that underlies all specific mental abilities. However, this theory was refuted by Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. This theory states that intelligences can be independent of one another; some individuals can be very competent in one area of education and incompetent in another. Robert Sternberg also argued that intelligence cannot be based on one factor. He believed that intelligence falls into 3 categories; analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence. Practical intelligence, also thought of as ‘street smarts’ is one of the most important aspects of intelligence. Emotional intelligence, which goes hand-in-hand with practical intelligence, is the type of intelligence that makes an individual good at understanding the emotional side of life. 

Taxonomic classification is a nested heirarchy of categories for classifying organisms. It begins with the species that is named by binomial nomenclature, including the genus and particular species name. For example,, panthera pardus is a leopard. The next group is slighlty more broad and is just panthera. Panthera includes big cats that have the ability to roar. Next is the family, in this example, felidae. Members of this family have retractable claws. The next classification is order, in this case carnivora. These members have carnassial teeth. Class is the next step which is mammalia. It then goes phylum (chordata), kingdom (animalia), and domain (eukarya). This is the basics of taxonomy. It is similar to a pyramid in the sense that it narrows as it goes down the categories. So species is very specific and with each step headed towards domain, the categories get broader and broader and include more and more organisms. 

In this class we will be determining the evolutionary history of behaviors by mapping behaviors on already existing phylogenies. The behaviors will not be used to create the phylogeny, instead we will be mapping the bahaviors on already existing phylogenies. Behaviors on a phylogeny do not  necessarily mean that they will get more complex with evolution, in some cases behaviors or characteristics can be lost within a phylogeny. 

The family of Lepisoseidae contains the Garr. These fish mainly reside in freshwater areas, though some do stray into brachish waters. The garr has a long snout region made of elongated ethmoid bone and has a surprisingly small maxilla bone. Their mouths contain plicidentine teeth, in which the structure forms folds around the center of the tooth. A Garr's vertebra have opisthoelous centra, meaning the front of the vertebra is wedged outward, while the back is inward. These vertebra will therefore fit together, almost like a puzzle piece. The garr is a large ray finned and piscivarous fish, meaning it feeds mainly on other fish. They are covered in tough ganoid scales. Garr have a morphology which supports quick bursts of energy and a quick strike, rather than a constant high swimming speed. These are generally slow moving, but when prey drifts by it will quickly lash out to catch it and devour it.

Due to the presence of this nasty retrovirus, it looks like there is a grim future for domestic dogs. However, since one breed can be saved by this vaccine, that breed should be the Australian Shepherd. After owning multiple Australian Shepherds over a span of 16 years, I can tell you that that these dogs are good natured, perfect for any lifestyle, loyal, and extremely intelligent. Each of my Aussies grew into mild mannered adults who loved my family just as much as we loved them. I played a role in training each of them as well and can say without a doubt that these dogs are brilliant. After just a few weeks, you can engrain in your Aussie puppy the basic commands and they will remember them for life. My experience with Australian Shepherds isn’t uncommon; many families in my neighborhood share the same feelings towards their Aussies as well. These families often lead very different lifestyles than my own. Some have small children, others are constantly on the move, and others are very sedentary. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting all their Australian Shepherds and each of them are just as friendly and happy as my very own dog.

The goal of this project is to investigate whether the crab spider shows preference in the substrate it chooses. The preference that will be tested is color and complexity of the background.  It is known that the spider can change its color over the course of several days time from shades of white to yellow or vice versa depending on the spider's location. We will give each spider 2 choices in background color using yellow to white as the control. Other groups of colors that will be tested are dark gray and light grey, white and grey, cyan and green, and red and magenta.

This study will serve to identify a key aspect of the crab spider’s vision and whether or not the intensity of light affects its ability to perceive color. We are investigating if the light intensity will change how the background color is reflected to the spider’s eyes and whether the ommochrome pigments will match the perceived color or the color of the plate in full, natural light. By knowing if the spider’s vision can adapt to dark environments, we will better know how the vision of the spider works and how it is able to function. Crab spiders are diurnal, so it would make sense that they perceive color at full light and then are able to change color to match. But, knowing that the ommochrome pigment is in the eye and what changes the spider’s pigmentation, it is also known that there has t be some relay behind what the spider sees and how it changes. It is not known if the spider sees in the same spectrum that people do, or if the amount of light that allows it to see will allow it to match the color as spot on that would allow perfect camouflage.

The Haleocomorphi contains the family of Amiidae, known more commonly as the bowfin fish. Amia calva is one such bowfin. These fish have cycloid scales and have diplospondylous caudal vertebra. This means that for every spine which comes off the vertebra, there are two centra. This is oppose to a monospondylous vertebra which has one centra per spine. Amia have a vascularized swim bladder which may be used to take in air, though these fish mainly breathe through the use of their gills. Still, they may live outside of water for some time, given their gills remain wet (ie: in muddy soil). Amia prefers slow moving waters with lots of vegetation. The males will build a nest amongst the weeds and defend them. Males will mate with a number of females and vis versa. The eggs hatch in 5-10 days depending on water tempreature. We have Amia in Massachusettes, however they are not native. Rather they were introduced in the 70's and migrated to the main rivers in the region.

There were approximately thirteen observational  differences between Figure 1 and Figure 2. Beginning with the photos, in Figure 1 the top left image, or image A was taken from a straightforward shot that includes the bottom landing where the spider web was located. The original photo also includes an arrow pointing at the web. In the recreation (Figure 2) the photograph seems to be sideways, with an arrow pointing to the left side of the staircase at a location that is not where the spider web is located. The two images of the respective figures also differ in their labelling with the original photograph containing a label A that is contained in a box with black borders that appears proportional in size to the picture and does not appear stretched. In the recreation the label does not contain a black border and the letter appears to be larger than the original and stretched more horizontally.

When comparing the bottom left images of the figures, images B, differences are present. One difference is that the Figure 1 image B does not contain a URL and contains a marker on the portion of Morrill 4 where the photos were taken. In the Figure 2 image B the screenshot contains the URL of the website used to create the map and the marker appears to be placed on top of North Pleasant street. The two photos are also different due to their respective labels, with the orignal having a box that has a black outline, while the recreation has a label that has no border and that has a letter that is stretched horizontally. The images on the right side of the different figures are also different in several ways. The original figure, Figure 1, contains on its right side a image of a spider web at the base of the stairs in respect to the location described in the methods section. The photograph in Figure 1 also contains a ten dollar bill for the purpose of providing a real life scale for an observer. In Figure 2 image B, the recreation of the original figure seems to be picture of a different spider web near the location described in the methods and contains no ten dollar bill for scale. This image also appears to have a much shorter height than the image that can be found in the original figure.

Organizationally, the two figures diverge due to the height difference of the image on the right side of the figure in the recreation and the photo on the right side (Figure 1, image C) in the original figure (Figure 1). The photo in the recreation figure (Figure 2) does not extend down to the bottom edge of the images on the left side, creating a large, box-sized gap in the figure that is not present in the original figure. This creates a stark contrast, with Figure 1 being held to the shape of a structured box and the recreation maintaining an uppercase L shape.